great deal of interest well beyond account catholic world. pius xi had clearly xwroomed pacelli to become the next pope. after a conclave lasting less than 24 hours, vatican secretary of state eugenio pa chel little is sworn in as pope. he chooses to call himself pius xii to honor his mentor. one of the things that made pacelli the right choice at this point in time was that all the rival parties the believed that he was in their camp. he was as it were all things to all men. he was widely recognized for his diplomatic skill. it was seen that given that the world was in a state of such tension that a diplomat pope and one who had considerable experience in international affairs is might be in order. as tensions in europe continued to rise, pope pius xii